Till Then
by Lady Dudley
Summary: Before the Great Revelation, Eric leaves Pam for the first time. My answers to a couple of questions I have about their past: 1. What was Pam doing during Eric & Godric's WWII stint as Nazis? And 2. When/Why was Pam a prostitute...?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is actually something I was working on for Aerynv ages ago (apologies that it took me so long to finish it!). I saw an ad for _Legally Blonde_ on TV the other day and was inspired about how I could finish this - it's gone in a slightly different direction to the one originally intended, but I hope you enjoy anyway :) The title comes from the Dean Martin song of the same name, which is quoted throughout the story :)  
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**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**_Till The_**_**n**_

...  
><em>Till then my darling please wait for me<em>  
><em>Till then no matter when it will be<em>  
><em>One day I know I'll be back again<em>  
><em>Please wait till then<em>  
>...<p>

The bright lights sparkled off wine glasses, glittered on the jewels of the women and winked off the bright brass buttons on the dress uniforms of the servicemen. The assembled crowd – some dancing, some merely socialising – were determined to enjoy themselves, to forget for one night that there was a war on.

None of them noticed the two vampires who were celebrating with them.

Eric enjoyed Pam's throaty laugh as he spun her out on the dance floor. Pam loved to dance and although Eric looked upon it as a social duty, he really could never deny her anything.

The dancers parted for a brief moment and Eric caught sight of a young man in uniform. He stopped stock still and Pam, returning from her spin back into his arms, slammed unheeded into his chest.

"Eric?" she questioned, immediately noting the change in his posture and mood.

He looked down at her, plastering a smile on his face, "It's nothing. I just thought I saw someone, that's all."

Pam knew that there was more to it than he was letting on; she also knew that it would be fruitless to press him further. She plastered a smile on her own face and tried to forget the incident, but the evening had lost some of the lightness it held only moments before.

Eric was distant and seemingly preoccupied for the rest of the evening, at least until they returned to their house where he participated in their lovemaking with a passion that surprised them both.

Pam fell 'asleep' in his arms, wondering if she had imagined the distance. Eric, however, felt anything but peaceful.

It had seemed like the rest of the evening had been planned specifically to torture him. Snatches from the last few songs that were played spun around his mind:

…_Seems kind of tough now, to say goodbye this way. But Papa's gotta be rough now, so that he can be sweet to you another day…_

…_Wish me luck as you wave me good bye…_

It had seemed as though the whole world knew what he must do: the whole world except for his beloved Pam who now lay oblivious in his arms. He spent the whole day awake, committing her to his memory: how she looked, how she felt in his arms.

As the sun began to set he slipped quietly from the bed, he wouldn't leave her a note she would only try to follow him.

He glanced back once and the refrain from the last song played in his mind:

…_So I'll say goodnight sweetheart  
>Even though I'm not, I'm not always right beside you<br>I'll still say goodnight, goodnight sweetheart  
>I want you to know that my love, my love will always guide you<em>

And dreams involve you, in each one I'll hold you  
>Goodnight sweetheart, goodnight...<p>

Silently he shut the door behind him and was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

...  
><em>Our dreams will live though we are apart<em>  
><em>Our love I know we'll keep in our heart<em>  
><em>Till then, when all the world will be free<em>  
><em>Please wait for me<em>  
>...<p>

Moments after Eric left, as though sensing his departure, Pam woke up alone.

Not in itself an unusual circumstance, but what surprised (and frightened) her was the blood that stained the sheets and the lack of any evidence of Eric. Even his clothes were gone, but there was no note – nothing.

He had either abandoned her or something had happened to him.

She wasn't sure which alternative scared her more. She tried to reach out to him but was met with silence. She knew he was there, but he was ignoring her.

Abandoned it was then.

Pam sank back onto the bed and took in the tussled sheets and the other evidence of their night before. Where had it all gone wrong?

…

Eric, for his part, was just as bereft without Pam as she was without him but he had the advantage in feeling it was for a good cause. The soldier he had seen the previous evening had been his Maker and he had known what it meant.

The threat they had been hunting for centuries was back and it was time for them to take up the hunt once more. He had left Pam completely in the dark on purpose, for her own safety.

The hurt and confusion he could feel from her now she was awake, however, almost overpowered his protective instincts: almost, but not quite.

He would die before he allowed any harm to come to her.

Hurting her was the only way to keep her safe; he held that thought close to his heart as he ignored her attempts to reach him.

It was the only way.


	3. Chapter 3

...  
><em>Although there are oceans we must cross<em>  
><em>And mountains that we must climb<em>  
><em>I know every game must have a loss<em>  
><em>So pray that our loss is nothing but time<em>

_Till then, let's dream of what there will be_  
><em>Till then, we'll call on each memory<em>  
><em>Till then, when I will hold you again<em>  
><em>Please wait till then<em>  
>...<p>

It would be two years, three months, six days, forty-eight minutes and twenty-two seconds (not that he was counting) before Eric would see Pam again.

He was in occupied France with his Maker, intent on capturing their quarry. Then it happened: a subtle shift in the wind causing a familiar scent to come his way, followed by a voice he knew almost as well as his own.

"Tell your fortune Sailor?"

He glanced down a side alley and saw her, standing proudly despite her surroundings and the dirty clothes she was wearing.

He forgot all about his Maker and the hunt and made his way towards her. She looked up as he approached and the young man who had obviously been interested in more than having his fortune told scampered away once he caught sight of his face.

He was so caught up in the sight of her that it took him a moment to realise that although he was delighted to have found her again _her_ feelings were more mixed.

"Tell your fortune Soldier?" she asked, her voice holding a hint of sarcasm.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, his tone rough from the guilt of what he had let her become.

"What does it look like?" she shot back.

"No child of mine becomes a whore," he told her.

"Then no child of yours should be abandoned," she replied, straightening her spine and glaring into his eyes.

"I never abandoned you I-"

"Left me behind," she supplied bitterly, interrupting him.

"For your own protection," he all but blustered in his defence.

"Well, I certainly feel protected, thank you," she replied sarcastically, making to go.

He caught her arm, "Pam…I'm sorry, I _should_ have taken better care of you but there was no time. Godric-"

"I know," she said quietly, interrupting him again, "he's your Maker," she said simply. "I just wish you'd spared a thought for me before rushing off," she added with a sigh.

"I will never forget you again, Pam," he swore.

She narrowed her eyes as she regarded him, "Be careful that sounded like a promise."

"It was."

"I'll hold you to it," she warned him.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

She continued to eye him suspiciously before relenting, "I believe you," she said finally.

"Come with me," he found himself saying before he could stop himself.

She hesitated.

"Pam-" he began, his voice taking on a pleading tone he didn't like, but she cut him off.

"I can't," she told him stepping back into the shadows.

"You _what_?" he demanded, his voice losing any semblance of pleading.

"I'm sorry," was all she said before she disappeared into the night.

Eric was about to call her back when Godric appeared at his side and he remembered why he had left her in the first place.

"It's too dangerous," Godric warned him.

"I know," Eric replied, still looking in the direction she had gone.

"We will search for her later, but we must not lose the trail," Godric told him, bringing him back to the task at hand.

Eric nodded and they left the alley.


	4. Chapter 4

...  
><em>Although there are oceans we must cross<em>  
><em>And mountains that we must climb<em>  
><em>I know every game must have a loss<em>  
><em>So pray that our loss is nothing but time<em>  
>...<p>

It would be another two years before Eric would see Pam again.

True to his word Godric had allowed Eric time away from their hunt to search for Pam, but it had soon become apparent that she was no longer in France.

Worse: that she was no longer in Europe.

It galled him that he had finally found her only to lose her again so quickly, but his Maker had been firm: Pam was not to be involved. If she had left Europe he was not allowed to call her back to him.

He had had to give up his search, at least until the end of the war when it became clear that they were no closer to locating their enemy.

Godric had set him free once more and the first thing he had done was follow Pam's trail to America, where he had found her in a diner of all places.

In hindsight, approaching her in such a public place was probably not the smartest idea, but he had been unable to resist.

It had been so long since he'd seen her and he had missed her more than he cared to admit.

Once more, however, he was happier to see her than she was to see him: he realised the nature of her feelings too late and was rewarded for his oversight by her throwing a drink in his face.

The pair had then exchanged heated words in front of a rapt audience before she had stormed out. Eric had had no choice but to follow her: he'd let her go once, he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

Which was how Eric found himself in his car, following along behind Pam as she marched angrily down the sidewalk and feeling like a complete fool.

"Pam, get in the car," he growled as she waited impatiently for the lights to change.

"Go to hell."

"You are making a scene."

She shot him a dark look, "Not as big as the one _you_ just made," she shot back.

Eric ground his teeth, "That was different, you were being…difficult."

Pam stared at him, hands on her hips, "_I_ was being difficult? You left me, Eric, in some cheap hotel room five years ago. You can't just pop back into my life and expect everything to go back to way it had been before."

"I'm your Maker," he reminded her in a low tone.

"F*ck you," she shot back as the lights changed and she crossed the road with the other pedestrians.

Eric watched her go with his eyes narrowed as he waited for the lights to change; the moment they turned green he sped after her.

"Get in the car," he repeated, once he came level with her again.

This time Pam merely lifted her chin higher and kept walking, he thought about ordering her but decided that would only make things worse. He glanced at her again and decided to try a different approach.

"You'll ruin your shoes."

She paused and looked back at him over her shoulder; he raised his eyebrows. She glowered at him but made her way over to the car anyway; she got in with very little grace and slammed the door.

"That's my girl," he told her, earning another glare from Pam; his lips twitched and he drove off.

...

**A/N: The line about her ruining her shoes comes from _Legally Blonde_ and seemed like such an Eric/Pam moment that I couldn't resist using it! :P**


	5. Chapter 5

...  
><em>Till then, let's dream of what there will be<em>  
><em>Till then, we'll call on each memory<em>  
><em>Till then, when I will hold you again<em>  
><em>Please wait till then<em>  
>...<p>

"Are we going anywhere in particular or are you lost?" Pam muttered after a long silence, still staring steadfastly out the window.

"I don't get lost," Eric informed her.

"My mistake."

Eric shot her a sideways glance, "I'm sorry, Pam," he said softly, she turned to look at him, "but I thought I had explained it all to you in France and that you understood."

"I understood but I didn't realise I was also obliged to like it," she grumbled, turning to look out the window again.

"The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you," he continued, feeling very awkward: he'd never apologised to anyone before. Not even Godric.

"You could have trusted me," she huffed.

Eric raised an eyebrow, "Is that what this is all about? You think I don't trust you?"

Pam shrugged a shoulder.

"Pam, this was not a question of trusting you, it was a question of keeping you safe," he paused, "and your safety must always come first."

"You're a selfish bastard," she said after a moment, making Eric grin.

"And you're an insubordinate witch so I guess that makes us even," he replied smoothly.*

Out of the corner of his eye he caught Pam pull a face at him and his grin widened, before he turned serious once more: "From now on it's me and you, Pam," he glanced at her, "I promise."

"And if Godric comes back?"

"You'll be the first to know," he promised, "I told you, Pam, I won't forget about you again."

"Be careful that sounded like a promise," she said finally, a smile tugging at her lips.

Eric fought off a smile of his own, "It was."

"I'll hold you to it," she warned him.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

They shared a smile and continued on in silence for a few minutes before it was broken by Pam: "So, where are we going?"

"I have no idea."

"What is it with men and asking for directions?" she teased.

"What is it with women and insisting we do?" he countered.

"I thought you didn't get lost?"

"I'm not lost; I'm…exploring new territory."

"Is that what they call it now?"

Eric sent her a mock glare, "Like I said: insubordinate."

Pam smirked and Eric conceded to himself that he never wanted to be without her again; he had missed her far more than he had thought possible, he would not care to repeat the experience.

...

* I like to think that this is the back story behind the "Selfish/Insubordinate" comments :)


End file.
